Really, it was the Neo Geo CD versions of SS2 and SS3 that not only marked the point the series had the most play but also left the most impression. I think my preference lay with the second game but there were things about the third that made it a fun counter point between the two entries.

Me too, I loved the Neo Geo CD new music and remixes, even the sound of the crows in the backgrounds was chilling. Loved SS II, III, IV on both the Neo Geo CD and Saturn.

I came to this series very late. Post Last Blade late. And while I have no idea which is the better fighting game, I enjoyed Last Blade so much that Samurai Shodown always felt a bit archaic by comparison. But that was mostly about the visuals and animation so I never really went much deeper with the game. That said, I really loved the two NGPC versions of SS.

Exactly the same here, my first two MVS carts were Last Blade and Blazing Star... after that nothing could match the pure class of the Last Blades. I do have Spirits 4 on AES and whilst I think itís a very good game itís just missing that certain something.

The two Pocket games are fantastic, but then again all of the consoleís fighters are really good.

I truly admire SupermanFalls's passion for all this but I can actually say NO Samurai Shodown game ever left a mark on me, I was very aware of the 3DO version in UK gaming mags and I played it ONCE in the arcades in about 1992 and it was just a thick, submental version of SF2 with a bit of swishy gore.

I was purely an SF2 kinda guy back then, I think the standpoint is entirely consistent with reality.

I truly admire SupermanFalls's passion for all this but I can actually say NO Samurai Shodown game ever left a mark on me, I was very aware of the 3DO version in UK gaming mags and I played it ONCE in the arcades in about 1992 and it was just a thick, submental version of SF2 with a bit of swishy gore.

I was purely an SF2 kinda guy back then, I think the standpoint is entirely consistent with reality.

Agreed - I would love to really get into the series (I even have the hyper 64 carts), but along with the KOF games, I find them abit wooden. Good looking games though.

I can appreciate the sense that SS and KOF can feel wooden. It's an issue I had early on with the games (and still have with NeverRealms fighters) but I acclimatised eventually and do enjoy both series now. Ironically, I've never gelled with the Last Blade series, I could do with spending more time with it at some point but it felt bland compared to the SS series, I had a similar relationship with Garou/Fatal Fury, Garou played well it was just kind of bleh to look at.

KoF has a similar issue to the Tekken/Virtua Fighter debate, in that I consider KoF to be a master's game, but similar to VF, a lot of the fun is derived from having other people to whom you can compare yourself.

I always used to feel like this about KoF but the more time I've spent with it the less sure I am. I think Street Fighter 2 feels less technical than KoF partly because we've all spent far more time with it and feel more comfortable with it's intricacies. Also, it has a looser, more fluid feel to it whereas KoF feels a bit rigid and awkward.

The guy who developed the first Street Fighter went on to make most of the fighters for SNK. You can certainly feel the rigidity of the original SF in games like Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters. I think this makes it seem like the games are a bit more technical than they actually are, almost as if 'I must be doing something wrong because if I was any good it would feel as natural as Street Fighter'.

I'm not saying KoF is not more technical than SF (partly it's an unfair comparison as SF came out a few yeas before the first KoF. Compare KoF '94 to II' Turbo from 1992 and the Capcom game seems light years ahead). However, I think most of us probably play SF on a pretty basic level and are happy doing so (myself included). KoF, on the other hand, has a reputation of being the master's game which means a lot of people try to play it on a more complex level, find that too difficult and then give up.

It's an issue I had early on with the games (and still have with NeverRealms fighters)

I just can't accept the idea that those end up at Evo and other games don't. I get that they're crowd-pleasers but to me, Mortal Kombat just just a joke that stopped being funny by 1998. I love the original and II as daft diversions, I think they're wonderful videogames, but I can never understand the desire to have the latest ones taken seriously as competitive fighters. Every aspect of how they play just feels wrong to me.

The way the fighters feel in their games makes sense if you imagine a giant rod has been inserted up the characters back passage They've improved over time but nowhere near the level you'd expect after 20 years. I think they feel that's part of the DNA but really it's a bad hangover element.

If SNK revives Shodown in 3D as per the most recent KOF I'd be interested to see how that affects the feel of the gameplay compared to the other 6 games